About Us

The AmTech Center for Collaboration started in 1989 in Silicon Valley with a grant from NASA. (Widely known as AmTech, it was incorporated under the name American Technology Alliances, Inc.).

AmTech received multiple awards for its groundbreaking work in the area of public-private partnerships. AmTech formed and managed technology development partnerships worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The organization offered a suite of specialized partnership services to public sector, private sector, academic, and nonprofit clients. Services included partner relations, contract negotiations, financial management, collaboration software solutions, public relations, and event management. AmTech orchestrated large-scale collaborative endeavors and special purpose alliances, addressing key issues such as governance and intellectual property rights. In addition, AmTech incorporated and managed numerous professional associations.

AmTech's achievements include: • Innovation of a legal model for the Federal Government that permits broad scale public-private partnership. Known at NASA as the Joint Sponsored Research Agreement (JSRA) and the "Other Transactions Agreement" (OTA) at the FAA and other Federal agencies, this legal instrument is designed to support collaborative projects where resources are exchanged outside the procurement system.

• AmTech negotiated high value JSRAs for NASA and the FAA ($100+ million dollar range), acting in the unprecedented role as the broker between the government and private sector partners. AmTech was entrusted with the role as General Manager in numerous large scale NASA projects (some having as many as 70 partner entities), and managed over $500 million dollars of federal R&D funds.

• AmTech was instrumental in forming the partnership that led to the first non-military drones, and played a key role in galvanizing the U.S. civil and commercial drone industry. ("On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle National Industry Team, we want to thank you for the many years of leadership and support provided to the UAS industry"). ​ • AmTech managed partner relations for the $18 billion dollar NextGen Aviation program to modernize the U.S. air transportation system, working with senior executives from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and 6 Federal agencies to establish the governance structure, and with the FAA and leading industry players to form the NextGen Institute.

AmTech ceased active business operations in 2009, but maintains a business presence and is response to opportunities.

AmTech was overseen by a prestigious Board of Directors, including Paul Dembling, the first General Counsel of NASA, Dr. George Kozmetsky, founder of Teledyne Corporation, and Dr. Paul Kaminski, former Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology.

AmTech was staffed by professionals in law, finance, software, and technology.​

AmTech's first five years were focused on researching legal and policy issues affecting partnering between federal agencies and the private sector. By 1994, the flexible legal agreement AmTech developed and advocated as a new way of doing business – the Joint Sponsored Research Agreement (JSRA) - was adopted by NASA, and elements were being widely utilized by other federal agencies. Thereafter, AmTech shifted emphasis from policy research to implementation. At NASA’s request, AmTech turned its primary attention to forming three important government-industry partnerships in the aeronautics field, each worth more than $100 million dollars. Until 1999, AmTech was mainly involved in developing these partnerships and managing their legal, administrative, and collaborative aspects.

Between 1999 and 2009, AmTech diversified its core competencies and clients, grew its revenue stream, and expanded in staff. In addition to aeronautics, it handled collaboration-based projects in the fields of satellite technology, disaster management, space technology, medical technology, and information technology.

“Under your leadership, AmTech has been at the forefront, forging new alliances between industry and government. I wanted to take the time to express NASA's thanks for its long history of initiating and supporting collaborative research and development to further NASA's goals...the world of aeronautics is that much better because of your innovation and dedication."Dr. Richard Wlezian, Program Director, Fundamental Aeronautics, NASA Headquarters

“Your personal vision and leadership skills were critical to moving six competitors to join together.” Frank Pace, President, General Atomics -ASI (makers of the Predator Drone).

“I looked to you to create the framework for a collaborative organization and to manage key relationships.”Dr. Doug Engelbart, Doug Engelbart Institute

“You think strategically and have the magic touch for getting people to align around a plan. You are as intuitive as you are determined. I’ve seen you structure complex partnerships and subdue difficult players.” Dennis Crosby, Senior Manager, Northrop Grumman Corporation

"The groundbreaking work you did in developing the Joint Sponsored Research Agreement and your thoughtful stewardship of the agreement has been a significant contributor to the success of the ERAST project. While the technical accomplishments of the project are well documented and highly publicized, the cooperative environment, which you and your team helped facilitate, is recognized as the key enabler of that technical success."Kevin Petersen, Director, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center

"The guidance and support you gave to SALI during the formative phase was invaluable."Leng Lim, Founder, Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative